Healthy Living

“Healthy living is more than just about food intake, you have to combine it with exercise and the positive thinking, so it’s called Balance and Happiness ;)”

GP: How did you come up with MShappydiet. Where did the inspiration come from?

May: I started MShappydiet when I got back from the USA and I massively gained weight! I was finding a way to drop down that weight and it wasn’t easy. I’m not a sporty girl, I don’t like to starve myself or skip meals and I can’t give up eating because I do like eating. So I decided to try eating healthier and wiser.

MS stands for May Savita which is my name and diet doesn’t mean only weight loss but good food intake. Also, I believe that healthy living is more than just about controlling the food intake but you have to combine it with exercise and the positive thinking, so it’s called Balance and Happiness.

GP: When did you get back from the USA?

May: 2011

GP: Did you lose a lot of weight since then?

May: Yes, definitely. I gained 6 kgs while I was living in the USA; some people probably cannot tell as I’m tall but it’s actually a lot for me. That 6 kgs never went down but since I started eating healthier and cleaner, I got back to my normal weight and even slimmer than I was in high school! I encouraged my parents to eat healthy as well; they actually feel better with their body. Recently my parents went to check their health and the result was genuinely better than it used to be. So I am very happy with what I’m doing.

GP: What is your motivation to stay healthy?

May: I eat good and I feel good so I want to continue doing this. Food that I used to like in the past are not tasty anymore – too sweet, too salty etc. I also become very sensitive to all the processed food, especially with MSG. I think this change is actually a good sign, it’s like my body giving me a caution to continue putting good stuff in my system. People who don’t eat healthy would not understand, but try! You will feel better with your body.

GP: What kept you going to do the blog?

May: As I am a blogger, there are a bunch of people messaging me about their health problems such as, “I have abnormal menstruation for 3 years ” or “I am addicted to weight loss pills, how can I stop this?” or “I am bulimic, how can I fix this?” So I guided them to slowly change their lifestyle by having more attention to what you consume as well as think more positively. Finally, it worked and they actually got back to their normal life. These kept me going and inspired me to keep doing my blog.

GP: That’s really inspiring May, and you are a good example for other people too.

May: Yeah, I want everyone to understand that eating and living healthy doesn’t mean that you have to starve yourself or even calculate the calories of your food intake but it’s more about being more conscious of what you eat and what you do for your life. As long as you are not killing yourself or causing yourself mental stress, that’s enough.

GP: If you have to choose one thing to eat for the rest of your life, what would you eat?

May: Vegetables

GP: Wow, really? Even with no salad dressing?

May: Yeah, Why not? I can eat them all and it’s pretty rare to get allergic to vegetables.

GP: What advice would you like to give to people who are trying to be healthier?

May: Stick to unprocessed food, eat wholesome.

GP: Do you have a personal quote?

May: “Always aim for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars!”

GP: Aww, that’s why you become MShappydiet today! And May, do you use GuavaPass?

May: เคยได้ยินม่ะที่เค้าพูดว่า “Always aim for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” อย่าไปคิดว่าเราทำไม่ได้ ไม่ว่าอะไรก็ตาม ขอให้พยายามก่อน ถ้าไปไม่ถึงดวงจันทร์ ยังไงก็อยู่ท่ามกลางดวงดาว 🙂

Mari Jasmine is a TV presenter with a passion for food, health and the outdoors. When she’s not taping you’ll find her at a cafe, sipping on a brewed coffee, writing for her blog marijasmine.com. She loves to create healthy meals with lots of fresh colourful produce!

The Ultimate Healthy Mushroom was last modified: April 20th, 2016 by Mari Jasmine

GuavaPass co-founder Rob Pachter leads by example and inspires us to embark on a detox journey. Rob has been off alcohol for over 6 weeks and counting now and shares with us his experience and changes in perspectives.

The inspiration for the detox came from the state of mind I wanted to be in. After a night of drinking, my thoughts were all clouded and I felt myself operating at a slower pace. We are going through an interesting period of the business, and I need to be super sharp without distractions. Giving up alcohol has helped me focus on our goals and and enabled me to execute in a strategic manner.

At first, I was a little apprehensive that I would be considered the “weird” guy sitting in the corner not drinking. I was also nervous that my interactions with drunk people would be harder given we weren’t on the same wavelength. After a week of getting use to my new sober state, it literally has had zero impact on my social life as I now go out and fully remember the evening!

It was really comical to see how foolish people can be and I found it entertaining to engage in conversations with them. You tend to hear the same story over and over, ranging anywhere from relationship problems to big “ideas” people are working on.

Everyone in my life has been super supportive/impressed as they know how hard I am working to accomplish my goal!

I plan to give up alcohol until around my 30th birthday in June.

I honestly feel so much better in every aspect of my life! I think clearer, feel healthier, am more productive and much quicker on my feet. I have also been getting into ridiculous shape which is starting to really show!

The only side effect is my blood does feels different without any vino running through it! I come from a Sicilian family where we have vino at every meal: breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s tough to sometimes sit down to an incredible meal without the usual pairing.

I’ve always been a very healthy eater. If anything with this detox, I tend to eat more as I have extra calories to consume!

I never want to live my life to such extremes where I have to completely cut something out. I could never 100% cut out vino but I’d be happy to take a few months off and I would like to detox for at least one month in a year.

The best way to cut out any vice is to just completely bite the bullet and go cold turkey. The first couple of days might be tough, but once you surpass that inflection point, it’s smooth sailing!

How to Give Up Alcohol: Go Cold Turkey! was last modified: April 20th, 2016 by Antonia Da Cruz

“WE ARE NOT JUST A FOOD CHAIN. WE ARE A MOVEMENT THAT BELIEVES IT IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT TO TRULY EAT WELL”

Meet Katherine Desbaillets, one of the three owners of SaladStop!, a family owned Singapore based salad chain who is a pioneer to Singapore’s healthy food scene. With their motto, “Eat Wide Awake,” SaladStop! is a business with a greater ambition than just to feed people.

Learn about how this healthy entrepreneur nourishes herself throughout her day:

“I am gluten intolerant and been a vegetarian for the past 20 years. So this naturally makes my diet healthy as I am not able to eat most processed foods.

My typical day is a latte in the morning with a quinoa bowl from SaladStop! I will add some free range scrambled eggs, lentils and chickpeas. This is packed in protein more than any meat can offer!

For lunch I will always create my own salad at a SaladStop! Outlet. Because the ingredients are so fresh and tasty that I do not add any dressing. We only source from the best possible ingredients which really makes the salad delightful on its own.

I will normally snack on some nuts in the afternoon or my favourite Acai bowl from SaladStop! We are constantly eating at the office as we are always testing new products and recipes from our chefs.

For dinner we will normally eat something warm like soup or cook something at home. Frantz, [Katherine’s husband] is a great pizza cook and makes me the best gluten free pastas!

Adopting a healthy lifestyle can help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and is critical to managing the disease. It’s also imperative to normalizing your critical health numbers, including weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol.

As we struggle to find time to juggle the day – day responsibilities of life, we must stop and evaluate our priorities, we must first help ourselves before we can do any good to help others, it sounds selfish, right? well its actually the complete opposite. The best decision you could ever make for your family/friends would be to take action and start looking after #1.

Leading a healthy lifestyle isn’t rocket science….. instead, think of it like a pretty easy to follow recipe.

When you’re in the heat of the sweat it’s sometimes hard to remember that one of the most important things about working out is to have control over how you breathe.

Many put breathing as an afterthought to the motions and activity they’re doing, but in fact, what will help people get through a workout most – especially one’s which really pushes you – is to stay conscious of how much oxygen you’re inhaling and exhaling.

The reason is because your body needs oxygen and blood flow to keep the muscles working correctly.

Here are some tips to get you through your workout with more ease:

The next time you’re doing a workout, especially high intensity workouts, stay conscious of your breath and how you’re breathing

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth

Count the inhales and exhales

Avoid huffing and puffing

Take deep long breaths versus short quick breaths

When you’re feeling out of breath, stand tall and resist the urge to bend over or sit down. Instead stand tall and lace your fingers behind your head; focus on opening up your chest.

The Little Trick That Will Help You With Every Workout was last modified: May 30th, 2016 by Tasha Kolonas

Whilst there was an excellent roster of yogis at the IRIS event earlier this month, what really caught our attention were all the new local F&B start ups, several of which were featuring the most delightfully healthy vegan treats! Having spent the afternoon indulging in our second favourite activity (eating!), we round up the top 5 brands we have also partnered with. Find out how to redeem these special offers on our website now!Sow Vegan

Sow Vegan seek to provide you a huge variety of homemade, organic products which are all vegan with gluten free and raw options available. The snack range includes dried fruits, vegetable chips, breakfast cereal and some seasonal snack products. One of the more unique items we came across was the Teriyaki Squid which is young coconut meat with a homemade teriyaki marinade. What’s more is that Sow Vegan also prepare vegan snack boxes for catering!

New to hit the scene, Mad Bars prides itself as being the ultimate refueling treat. Gluten and dairy free, also completely vegan. The Mad Bar is full of antioxidants and superfoods – and is perfect for that refuel kick during those tiresome moments in life. Madi currently has two flavours at the moment – almond & coconut energy bars, and she also makes a mean chocolate cranberry energy truffle!

Say this name 5 times very fast! It’s a bit of a tongue twister but Nutty Buddy Nut Butters is the brainchild of Laura Fairchild (the rhyme is unintentional). It’s made by dry roasting the nuts in order to maintain its mineral rich nutrients, and to bring out its naturally sweet aroma. There are several ways you can enjoy this nut butter; you can spread it on toast, use it to bake your cookies or just simply eat it straight out of the jar! Laura has kindly given us a very special offer – if you purchase a jar of this nut butter online you will also receive a FREE pack of homemade energy balls (link here). What are you waiting for!

It goes without saying, Jeanne has hands down succeeded in making “vegan food that doesn’t suck!”. (For the record, we never said vegan food was terrible, this is the Rebel Girl motto). Whilst cupcakes have been all the rage for quite some time now, what really piqued my interest was the vegan doughnuts which were selling out like hot cakes! They come in taro coconut, peanut butter chocolate and raspberry sprinkles. I was unfortunately unable to get my hands on any of these (serious FOMO here!) but you could definitely hear the buzz about them all around the festival!

Whilst this artisanal coffee shop is actually nestled in the New Territories, if you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods I would definitely recommend dropping by and sampling one of their delicious raw pistachio chocolate slices! (If you’re lucky they may just want to share their recipe with us!) Complement that with one of their bulletproof coffees with soy or almond milk and it’s our idea of a perfect afternoon treat! Little Cove Espresso also sells organic colas, chia bowls and an array of other gluten-free and paleo baked goods.

New Delicious Vegan Treats brought to you by GuavaPerks Hong Kong! was last modified: April 20th, 2016 by Antonia Da Cruz

Most of us have a health goal in mind; some more extreme than others, but generally what we tend to focus on is how many sweat sessions we do and about what we are eating.

What takes a back seat to our considerations are the other aspects to health and happiness that are so important to your overall health; such as: emotional health, mental health, and living a low or stress free life.

Here are some suggestions on how you can compliment your fitness regiment.

Did you know spending time in nature has been proven to help you destress and help to improve your mental health?

Instead of meeting friends in a mall, plan for a picnic at a park or a beach.

For your next getaway, find a location with plenty of options to be outdoors and fill your holiday with hikes and nature strolls.

Give your mind a break from the daily overstimulation of modern technology by taking a week off technology and dive into a week in nature (or if a week is too much, as we all do have plenty of obligations – work, family, etc. – why not leave your phone at home for a day at the park).

Complement Your Fitness Regiment was last modified: March 22nd, 2016 by Tasha Kolonas